Railroad-bridge warning.



B. J. HASTINGS.

RAILROAD BRiDGE WARNlNG.

APPLICATION FILED APR.13, \sxs.

i ,wimm Patented Dec. 5,1916. QT

BENJAMIN J. HASTINGS, or trAUnrou, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILROAD-BRIDGE WARNING.

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Application filed April 13,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN J. The- TINGS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Taunton, Bristol county, State of Massachusetts,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railroad-BridgelVarnings, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawings.

Railroads are required to provide bridge warnings so called, erected soas to be suspended over the track a short distance back from each sideof the bridge to serve as a warning to brakemen on top of the freightcars of the near approach to a bridge. These warnings usually consist ofa series of wire hangers pivotally connected with an arm extendingcrosswise of the track, these hangers being usually only a few inchesapart and pivotally connected with the arm in suchi manner that they mayswing in the direction lengthwise of the track. These wires are usuallya foot or so in length, and secured to the lower end of each wire is arope which hangs down a sufiicient distance so that if a, brakeman isstanding or sitting on the top of a freight car at the time he reachesthe warning the ropes will. strike him in the faceto warn him that he isnear a bridge in ample time to enable him to flatten himself on the topof the carto avoid striking against the-bridge. The lower ends of theseropes usually reach down to about sixteen feetabove the top of the railbut the exact height abovethe-rail varies somewhat Withdifferentrailroads The wiresthemselves areof simple construction, thepivot end of the wire being bent around to form a loop or eye and thiseye is connectedwith the arm above by a staple or other fastening insuch manner thatin order to attach or de tach the wire from the arm theworkman must use a ladder and climb up to the arm from which the wireissuspended. It is a common practice for a brakeman on top of thefreight car as it approaches the guard to put uphis hands and spreadthewires apart so that his head may pass between the wires without beinghit by them, but'as the wires are intended to swing only forward andbackand not laterally thisact ofspreading the wires, bends them out ofshape. For this reason and for other causes it becomes necessaryoccasionally to, have a workman make repairs either in the way of;straightening the wires or of removing them and Specification of LettersPatent;

v Patented Dec. 5, 1916. 1916. Serial No. 90,821

or sometimes, to replace the ropes which are suspended from the wirehangers. Whenever suchrepairs are made it is necessary for the workmanto procure a ladder and mount to the arm as already described.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple device to beattached permanently to the arm and of sucha construction that the wiresmay be readily attached to or detached from said attachment by anoperative standing on the ground and witlaput requiring the use of anyladder at a The invention will be fully understood from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings andthe novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined inthe claims at the close of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation of an arm and post of usualform of construction and a series of bridge warnings attached to saidarm by means of devices embodying the invention] Fig. 2 is an elevationon a larger scale than Fig. 1 showing a single holder attached to thearm with one of the wire hangers and its connected rope attachedthereto. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken at right angles to Fig. 2.Fig. 4 is a detailed view of one of the holders embodying the invention.Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of one of the holders. Fig. 6 is a view ofa device for handling the wire hangers in attaching and detaching themfrom the holder. U

Referring now to thedrawings 1 represents a post partly broken awaywhich is planted in the ground at one side of the track and havingattached to the upper end thereof an arm 2 which projects crosswiseabove the track and which is usually at the other end connected with apost similar to the post 1. On the under side of the arm 2 is secureda-wooden stringer 3 to which are secured the special devices or holdersA which embody the invention. The holder has a head 4t provided withsuitable means for attaching it to the stringer 3. The preferredsecurlng means consists of a screw 5 which may be readily screwed intothe stringer 3; The holders are attached to the stringer at suitabledistances apart.

The head 4 is formed with a vertical slot 6 extending up from the underside, said vertical'slot being of only slightly greater horisubstitutingothers,

to which therope 8 is secured and of greater horizontal length so thatthe loop or eye 9 formed at the upper end of the wire may be easilyentered in the slot 6 as shown in Fig. 3. The said slot 6 preferablyextends up into the head a distance about equal to the full length ofthe eye 9 so that the full length of the eye may be introduced into theslot. The length of the slot laterally as viewed in Fig. 3 should be atleast equal to the diameter of the eye 9 and preferably the slot is openat the ends partway up but not for the full height; One side wall of theslot is .formed with a slot 10 extending therethrough at right angles tothe slot 6 and is formed with ears 11 between which is pivoted a latchor hook member 12 on the pivot pin 13. Said latch has an arm 14 on oneside of the fulcrum. which in its normal position extends entirelyacross the slot 6, and has an arm'15 on the opposite side of the fulcrumwhich projects out through the slot 10. The said latch 12 may be turnedon its pivot so as to swing the arm 14 upward entirely out of the slot6. A stop is provided so that the said latch 12 cannot be turned farenough to swing the arm 14 up beyond a certain distance, preferably justenough for'the arm to be swung up out of the .slotl6, and there is alsoa stop to prevent the arm 14 falling below a certain point so'that inthe lowermost position of thev arm 14, it will extend crosswise of theslot. The. stop mechanism for thus limiting the downward movement of thelatch is formed by the shoulder 16 at the lower end of the wall 17 Vwhich connects the two ears 11. When the latch is in the normal positionwith the arm 14 extending crosswise ofthe slot 6, the arm 15 will engagethe under side of the said shoulder 16 land when the latch is turned soas to swing the arm 14 up out of the slot 6, the upper edge 18 of thearm 14 will strike against the inside faceof'the said wall 17.

Preferably i the arm 14 overbalances the arm 15 of the latch so that,the saidlatch being free to turn on its pivot, the excess 'weight of thearm 14 'over the weight of the arm 15 will cause the arm 14 to remain inits downward position crosswise of the slot. It is obvious that a springor any other suitable. equivalent could be employed normally to retainthe said arm 14 in its downwardposition. V

,When it is desired to engage the wire 7 withthe holder, the eye 9 ofthe wire will be inserted into the slot 6 from the under side, the upperend of the eye thereby pushing-up the arm 14, turning it on its pivotuntil the upper end of the eye passes by the end of the arm 14 whereuponthe weight of the arm 14will then cause it to drop back through the eyeand crosswise of the slot (5 has as shown in Fig. 2, so that the wire issuspended from the arm 14.

Whenever it is desired to release the wire the finger piece 15 will bepulled down and the arm 14 will be tilted up and back out of the slot 6.By reason of the convex or cam shaped upper edge 18 of the arm 14 theeye of the wire will slide off the arm 14 and drop. The latch 12 may beactuated to release the wire 7 in the manner just described by anoperative standing on the ground and having a pole of suflicient lengthwith a hook on the end to reach over the arm 15 so as to turn the latch.

Whenever it is desired to re'ngage the hanger wire 7 or to introduce anew hanger this also may be done by the workman standing on the groundby means of a pole having a suitable clamp on the end to hold the wire 7so that he can lift it u and insert the eye 9 into the slot 6, pus ringup the arm 14 until the upper end of the eye slides past the end of thearm 14 when the arm 14 will drop back across the slot 6 in a mannerpreviously described. The spring clamp connected with the pole by whichthe wire 7 is lifted may be of such character that by a slight pull itmay be released from the wire after the wire is suitably engaged withthe latch 12. A suitable pole for this purpose is shown in Fig. 6, inwhich a pole 20 attached to one end thereof an arm 21 to whichis'secured a spring 22 which is suitable for engaging and clamping thewire 7 for the purposes above mentioned.

What I claim is:

1. A holder for a tell-tale wire for a bridge warning having a bodyformed with a vertical slot to receive the eye of a tell-tale wire, alatch lever pivoted to said body and having one arm which normallyextends crosswise of said slot, said lever being movable on its pivot toswing said arm up out of the slot so as to admit the eye of the wiretherein by the upward pressure of the eye against the under side of saidlever, said lever being so constructed and weighted that when the eye ismoved upward far enough to ride past the said lever arm, said lever armwill swing back crosswise of the slot through the eye and thereby form asupport for the wire, the upper edge of said lever arm being downwardlyinclined crosswise of the slot when it extends across the slot in itsnormal positionin such manner that when said lever arm is tilted upwardto move it out of the slot, the said eye of the wire will automaticallyslide ofi of the said lever arm by gravity and be disengaged from theholder.

2. A holder for a tell-tale wire for a bridge warning having a bodyformed with a vertical slot to receive the eye of a tell-tale wire, andhaving a second vertical slot through one of the walls of said firstslot and extending at right angles to said first slot, a

first arm crosswise of latch lever pivoted within said second slot andhaving one arm which normally extends crosswise of said first slot, saidlever having a second arm which protrudes out of said second slot, saidfirst arm over balancing said second arm so as to normally retain saidsaid slot, the upper edge of the first arm of said lever slopingdownwardly in a direction toward its swinging end in such manner thatwhen the said lever arm is tilted upward it will ride up under the eye,by gravity.

3. A holder for a tell-tale wire for a bridge warning having a bodyformed with a vertical slot to receive the eye of a tell-tale wire, thetransverse width of the slot being but leaving the wire free to drop"slightly in excess of the diameter of the wire of which the eye iscomposed, and having a second vertical slot through one of the walls ofsaid first slot and extending at right angles to said first slot, alatch lever pivoted within said second slot and having one arm whichnormally extends crosswise of said first slot, said lever having asecond arm which protrudes out of said second slot, said first armoverbalancing said second arm so as to normally retain said first armcrosswise of said slot, the upper edge of the first arm of said leversloping downwardly in a direction toward its swinging end in such mannerthat when the said lever istilted upward it will ride up from under theeye of the wire leaving the wire free to drop by gravlty.

Uopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,

Washington, D. 0.

4. A holder for a tell-tale wire for a bridge Warning having a bodyprovided with means at its upper end for a rigid connection with asupport, said body being formed with a vertical slot between two flangeportions to receive the eye of a tell-tale wire, the space between saidtwo flanges being but slightly in excess of the diameter of the wire ofwhich the eye is composed and having a second vertical slot through oneof the flange walls of said first slot and at right angles to said firstslot, said slotted flange wall having a slotted lateral extensionforming ears, the slot between said ears in said extension connectingwith the slot through said flange wall and forming thereinto a singlecontinuous slot, a latch lever pivoted within said last slot and havingone arm which normally extends crosswise of said first slot, said leverhaving a second arm which protrudes out of said second slot, said firstarm overbalancing said second arm so as to normally retain said secondarm crosswise of said slot, said second slot being of sufficient depthto permit said first arm to be tilted up therein entirely out of saidfirst slot, and the upper end of the slot between said ears forming astop to limit the downward swing of the latch end of said lever.

In testimony whereof I aflix in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN J. HASTINGS.

Witnesses:

THOMAS C. BAQHELDER, WILLIAM A. COPELAND.

my signature,

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

